5 Minute Dungeon: A Review

I purchased this box set on Kickstarter when the campaign first started, hoping to get my husband a game that he would like but hadn’t heard of yet. The game was an instant hit with the family. We have teenagers who aren’t really so interested in a long game with parents, and this game moves quickly enough, they aren’t thinking about how much time is and has passed and they aren’t board/card game fans–they much prefer video games.

My kids are all grown now and have left the home and we haven’t had much opportunity to play again. So when we went to Owlcon last month with a friend who had never played, with just a minimum of time to spare between our planned events, we picked it up at the library and started to play.

Lots of people stopped by to take a look. It’s fast, fun, a little messy, but ultimately a great way to fill in time. Our friend decided to buy a copy to play at home with her husband, who, like our teenagers, is not a big board game fan.

Here is the blurb on gameplay from their site:

5-Minute Dungeon is a co-operative card game that plays in 5 minutes! For 2-5 players.

Cooperative

You’re all in it together—either your party defeats the dungeon and moves onto the next one, or you all perish! This makes 5-Minute Dungeon an easy game for new players to join, even if they are not hardcore gamers.

Fast Paced

There are no turns. Everybody races against the clock to slap down symbols that match the current card. With only 5 Minutes to defeat each dungeon, there’s no time to waste!

Flexible

Your team can be anywhere from 2 to 5 players, and it’s easy to change the number of players between dungeons if you have new players arriving at your game night. And since each dungeon takes only 5 minutes, you can play a few rounds and then pick it up again when you have time to continue the quest.

With 10 heroes to choose from you can assemble your team differently for each game session, and even swap heroes between dungeons! Each hero has unique abilities to help the team.

Besides the fast pace of the game, there is a timer app with epic voices that are lots of fun.

In the time between the Kickstarter and today, the makers of 5 minute dungeon now have a Marvel version, which we are keen to play with my step kids on their next visit.

This game is a LOT of fun. It’s probably the only game I am willing to play every time with my overly-competitive-at-board-games husband that isn’t to review the game. Check out the video above and try it out at the next gaming convention.